The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and method of setting up the same for reusing recovered toner by mixing it with new toner, the apparatus and the method being applicable to an image forming apparatus and the like of, for example, a copying machine, printer, facsimile, and the like.
An image forming apparatus having a toner recycle device executes an image forming process such that the surface of a photosensitive drum is charged negatively, a latent image is formed by exposing the photosensitive drum with laser beams based on an image signal (a surface is charged with a potential), a visible image is formed by causing the latent image to absorb negatively charged toner, and the visible image is transferred onto a positively charged sheet and fixed thereon.
In this case, the toner is stored in a developing device as a developing agent mixed with a carrier. The developing device adheres a suitable amount of the developing agent on the surface of the charged photosensitive drum 2.
In the above image formation, toner, which was already used for image formation and collected for recycle (hereinafter, referred to as xe2x80x9crecovered tonerxe2x80x9d), and new toner, which is not yet used for image formation (hereinafter, referred to as xe2x80x9cnew tonerxe2x80x9d), are used in mixture. That is, the recovered toner is recycled. The recovered toner is recycled by a toner recycle device.
Incidentally, when the image forming apparatus is used for the first time, the developing device must be filled with an initial developing agent. The following way are conventionally available as way for filling the developing device with the initial developing agent.
(1) When a product is shipped, the developing device is previously filled with the initial developing agent.
(2) When the product is shipped, a new toner hopper is filled with the initial developing agent, and the initial developing agent in the new toner hopper is supplied into the developing device when the product is used for the first time.
(3) A vessel (bottle, bag and the like) filled with the initial developing agent is put into the package of an image forming apparatus main body separately therefrom and charged into the developing device when the image forming apparatus is set up.
However, the respective way described above have the following problems.
(1) When the developing device is previously filled with the initial developing agent, there is a possibility that the developing agent leaks due to vibration and the like while it is transported. Since the developing device has a developing roller which ordinarily includes a large opening, the developing agent is apt to leak from the opening in the structure of the developing device. It is very difficult to prevent the leakage of the developing agent from the opening with a simple structure. While there is an example in which a shutter structure is employed to prevent the leakage, this structure is considerably expensive.
There is also a system for entirely sealing the developing roller. This system, however, is time-consuming because the seal member must be removed when the image forming apparatus is set up.
(2) When the new toner hopper is filled with the fresh developing agent, all the initial developing agent in the new toner hopper must be supplied into the developing device when the image forming apparatus is set up. New toner cannot be replenished while the initial developing agent remains in the new toner hoper. This is because when the new toner is resupplied while the initial developing agent remains, the ratio of the toner to the carrier changes.
In this case, the new toner must be naturally replenished after the completion of an automatic toner adjustment, which is time-consuming.
(3) When the vessel is filled with the initial developing agent and put into the package of the image forming apparatus main body, the developing device must be removed from the main body, and the initial developing agent must be charged thereinto, which is considerably time-consuming. Further, since it is difficult for a user to carry out a developing agent charge job, the user cannot set up the image forming apparatus.
An object of the present invention, which has been made to overcome the problems of the conventional art described above, is to provide a less expensive image forming apparatus and a set-up method for the image forming apparatus which can reliably prevent the leakage of a developing agent without the need of a special seal structure in packaging and permits a user to easily carry out a set-up job in a short time without trouble.
The present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object, relates to an image forming apparatus and a set-up method for the image forming apparatus for reusing recovered toner collected after toner is used in a developing device of the image forming apparatus by mixing the recovered toner with new toner. The developing device is in an evacuated state before the image forming apparatus is initially set up, and a transfer path of the recovered toner is filled with an initial developing agent which is supplied into the developing device when the image forming apparatus is initially set up. It is preferable that a recovered toner sub-hopper of the recovered toner transfer path be filled with the initial developing agent.
When the image forming apparatus is initially set up, it is preferable that the initial developing agent be automatically and promptly supplied into the developing device by actuating a toner recycle device independently of the image forming apparatus and increasing the operation speed of the toner recycle device.